Chris Iavarone
Home: Bayside
Age: 23
Weight:157lbs.
Height: 5’7
Hair: Brown
Brown: Eyes  

Chris Iavarone, 23, of Queens may be a novice when it comes to strutting his stuff  on the catwalk, but he is an expert at showing his moves on the mat. 

Iavarone’s physical prowess has earned him a black belt in karate and landed him a job as an instructor at Tiger Schulman, a popular karate school on Bell Boulevard in Bayside. 

Bringing along his 14-years of karate experience, Iavarone has been an instructor for two years and teaches kids ages 6 to 8, spinning kicks and punching combinations.

 Most of all, he instructs them to “have a non-quitting spirit,” he said.

Iavarone began karate at the tender age of 10.

“It turned out to be something I really enjoyed. I want to open up a school someday.”

In terms of his life outside of work, Iavarone just recently settled in Bayside via Long Beach, Long Island.

He said he is just beginning to explore the neighborhood, and so far, his favorite activity includes running along the Cross Island Parkway near the water  — an activity reminiscent of day growing up near the beach. 

 “I  like it around here, it’s closer to the City; growing up on the Island you’re kind of sheltered,” he said.

And modeling is just another interest that he’d like to pursue.

Iavarone has had a taste of the spotlight after being featured in a few commercials promoting the school.

Not 'Run'-ning On Empty

    Run-DMC, the ol’-skool rap group from Hollis, is back on tour – with “Walk This Way” partner Aerosmith, and foul-mouthed Detroit-native Kid Rock.

Run DMC

    The group that first brought rap to mainstream, wanted to let everyone know that they were still going strong. Explaining that next year is their 20th anniversary, DMC recently said,  “Twenty years in the game…While we’re on the tour bus, we’re writing the Run-DMC 20th-year anniversary album.”

    Recently, the show visited Long Island’s Jones Beach Theater, and the PNC Bank Arts Center in New Jersey.  At the Jersey show, the three touring acts performed “Walk This Way” together.

    In other Run-DMC news, the only full-length biography ever written about the group is returning to print in a brand new edition. 

    The book, “Tougher Than Leather,” tells the stories of the members’ childhood in Hollis, and their rise to stardom.  It also recounts frequent interactions with other Queens rap stars such as LL Cool J and Russell Simmons, their original Rush Management boss and brother of Rev. Joseph “Run.”

    Run-DMC plans on releasing their 18-track ‘greatest hits’ album in November.

Queens Waves The Flag & The Stamp

    A local veteran newsman and PR guru for more than a few Queens movers and shakers is waving the flag — and the stamp — to help the City after Sept. 11.

    Sam Samuels, press man for the Greater Jamaica Development Corporation and the Queens County Bar Association and former spokesperson for then-Borough President Donald Manes, uses the special 45-cent “Sept. 11” stamp, which features the famous Bergen Record photograph of three firefighters hoisting Old Glory above the ruins of the World Trade Center.

    The stamp’s Queens connections don’t stop there, though.

    The philatelic tribute to the emergency responders to the attack was originally sponsored by this borough’s (and this paper’s) own Gary Ackerman, U.S. congressman for the 5th District and founder of the Tribune.  Ackerman introduced legislation for the stamp, which was unveiled this March, when his son Corey came up with the idea with a friend shortly after the attack.

    George Johnson, one of the three firefighters on the stamp, is a member of Brooklyn’s Ladder 157, but lives here, in Rockaway.

    Samuels said that using the stamps – most of the extra postage from which goes to the families of Sept. 11 rescue workers – is a personal decision, not one of the organizations he represents.  He pays for the stamps himself, he told us.

    Thanks, Gary and Sam, for doing the borough proud!

Rotten City

    The City can be cruel sometimes, even for a hotshot City Councilman like John Liu.

    According to Liu, he innocently had his car parked a few doors down from his home in Flushing recently, when a City tree came crashing down on top of it out of nowhere, demolishing it. The wind was fairly strong on the evening that the incident happened in August, but Liu said he’s not quite sure what caused the tree to fall exactly. Liu said of his Toyota, “It was absolutely destroyed. I couldn’t believe it. It was just bad luck, I guess.”

    Not to worry, Liu said he can still deal with constituent needs and drive around his district with his rent-a-car, which he is using until his car is repaired. Although Liu has kept a fairly good sense of humor about the incident, saying “at least I wasn’t in the car,” he did add with a bit of tongue-in-cheek, “Of course, it would be a City tree.”

Everybody Does Love Raymond

It’s no secret that Queens-born star Ray Romano received the Emmy last week for Best Actor for his role as a sportswriter in the CBS hit show, “Everybody Loves Raymond.”

Less known is his interactive website RayRomano.com, the official website for the comedian that allows fans to ask Romano questions about the show.  Romano will then post his replies online. 

Romano is so committed to his cyberspace fan-base that he chatted with several of his fans the day after his big Emmy win.   And fans are really committed too—the message board is overflowing with immense praise for the comedian!

The website also consists of games and contests, as well as Romano’s lifeline, including a family picture as a kid growing up in Queens, that he titled, “The Romanos in Forest Hills, NY.  At first glance, we look normal.”   

Romano attended Hillcrest High School with another prominent star, Fran Drescher.